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Monday, 19 May 2014

The Two Faces of January is an interesting little film written and
directed by Hossein Amini, a man best known for penning the script of Drive. Here Amini delivers another
taught script set in early 1960s Greece. American tour guide and
part time swindler Rydal (Oscar Isaac) gives tours to unsuspecting travellers
in the Greek capital Athens and one day comes across an American couple with
whom he strikes up conversation and a brief friendship. The tour guide is
charmed by the couple and drawn to their wealth and beauty but when it becomes
apparent that the couple aren’t quite as well refined and put together as they
first appear, Rydal helps them to evade those hunting them before becoming
embroiled in their strange and murky circumstances.

There were two things that
attracted me to this movie. The first was the name Amini. I was curious to see
the screenwriter’s directorial debut and was interested in his script. The
second factor was Viggo Mortensen. At this stage in the actor’s career I feel
as though I can pretty much trust that if he’s agreed to be in it, it will be
good enough to see. Mortensen does indeed impress and his choice of role is
once again solid. The movie is about surface and sheen and the attraction that
bright and beautiful things hold while under the surface bubbles something more
sinister. There’s an uneasy feeling which envelops the film and it stabs
through the false surface from time to time in a wonderfully calm but out of
control manner.

Sixty years after his debut
screen appearance, Godzilla is back on our screens in his second American
guise. For anyone who remembers the 1998 Roland Emmerich version, this news may
legitimately cause trepidation. My interest in the picture came about when I
heard that the new film was to be directed by second time director Gareth
Edwards. For nearly half a decade since Edwards’ first film, I’ve been telling
anyone I can get my hands on to watch his film Monsters. That movie was outstanding; an ultra low budget
monster-thinker which Edwards wrote, directed, shot and edited himself besides
doing all of the FX work in his bedroom. In comparison to that movie, Godzilla is a let down.

Things start well with an
interesting and attractive titles sequence which gives a slight spin on the
traditional Godzilla back story. The film postulates that the atomic tests of
the 1950s were in fact not tests at all but an elaborate attempt to destroy the
gigantic titular beast. Fast forward several decades and we find Joe Brody
(Bryan Cranston) hard at work as the supervisor of a Japanese Nuclear Power
Plant. Brody is concerned by strange seismic patterns which are unlike any
earthquake he’s seen before. In fact he’s convinced there are no earthquakes at
all.

Sunday, 18 May 2014

A beautiful if underwhelming
film, Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief
marked the director’s third and final picture starring Grace Kelly. Joining the
actress is another actor in his third Hitchcock movie, Carey Grant. Grant plays
John Robie, a once jewel thief turned French Resistance fighter who now
retired, tends to his vineyards high above the Côte d'Azur. When a series of
robberies which display Robie’s hallmarks are committed, the police come
looking for the man known as ‘The Cat’ and in order to clear his name, he gets
hold of a list of potential targets in the hope of out witting and out
manoeuvring the real thief. First on the list are Mrs. Stevens (Jessie Royce
Landis) and her daughter Francie (Kelly).

To Catch a Thief lacks some of the dramatic tension and edge of the
seat thrills of Hitchcock’s finest films but what it lacks in tautness, it
makes up for in other ways. Hitchcock cleverly gets passed the Hays/Breen
censors with some fantastic sexual innuendo and half hidden imagery. The
romantic side of the plot is much more developed than the dramatic side and
Hitch wows his audience with sexual fireworks (literally) and a John Michael
Hays script which while leaving little to the imagination, somehow feels clean
and moral. Coupled with the spectacular beauty on display, this is a movie
which is worth investing time in.

Saturday, 17 May 2014

Stand Up Guys is a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be.
Stuck somewhere between a geriatric sub Apatow production and 70s crime drama,
it’s lost perilously at sea with a precious cargo of acting royalty desperately
trying to steer around an iceberg. Despite pulling in the same direction, they
go down with the ship. The S.S. Good
Riddance. Directed by Fisher Stevens and penned by Noah Haidle, the film
has at its centre an interesting premise but tonally it’s all off beam.
Twenty-eight years after a job that went badly wrong, Valentine or “Val” to his
friends (Al Pacino) is released from prison and into the welcoming arms of his
former partner in crime Doc (Christopher Walken). Having served half a lifetime
after a stray bullet accidentally ended the life of their bosses only son, Val
is keen to make up for lost time, lost steak and lost sex. He’s acutely aware
however that his time is limited and is expecting a hit on behalf of his still
grieving boss. The bullet he’s expecting is due to be expelled by the gun
hidden in his old friend Doc’s pocket, something Val also suspects.

With Alan Arkin joining an
already illustrious cast and a premise that sets up so much, the film still
somehow disappoints. The comedy is absolutely dire and produced just one laugh
(admittedly a large one) in the entire 95 minute runtime. Time that could have
been spent creating dramatic tension or allowing the great actors to spit
thick, gloopy dialogue is instead devoted to nob gags and wave after wave of
“Oh aren’t we old” jokes. I don’t know who is supposed to be enjoying it. If
you’re young and have no love for the actors then it doesn’t work. If you’re
young and have a great affinity for the actors then it’s simply sad and
embarrassing and if you’re older then you just aren’t going to be interested in
the Viagra stealing, Russian prostitute visiting humour. This is a movie aimed
at fifteen year old fans of forty year old movies. A lot of movies have been
produced recently which try to put a twist on the frat boy comedy by
introducing an older cast but it’s just uncomfortable. Seeing Michael Corleone,
Sonny Wortzik, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, Frank Serpico, Tony Montana,
bloody Al ‘8 Oscar nominations and 1 win’ Pacino pretending to go to hospital
because he can’t get rid of an erection? No. Just stop it. Enough.

Thursday, 8 May 2014

Late last month, a scheduled trip
to New York
happened to coincide with The Tribeca Film Festival. When I discovered this a
couple of weeks before crossing the Atlantic, I immediately looked into the
possibility of going to see some films and was fortunate to find the time to
squeeze three in. With only six days in the greatest city on the planet, I
wouldn’t have been able to justify any more than this. Tribeca was my first
film festival and overall I had a positive experience. The event was well run
by knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff while the locations were excellent. The
cinemas themselves were less desirable however. The three screenings we went to
were situated in two theatres, both multiplexes and both with very shallow
seating rakes. At 6’ 3” I still struggled to see through the heads of those in
front of me and was very conscious of the views I was obstructing behind. I’m
not sure if this is consistent with all American cinemas but on the only other
occasion that I’ve seen a film in the States, in the same city, a year before,
there was no issue. Anyway, I digress.

The first film we saw was Night
Moves at the AMC Loews Village 7 on 3rd Avenue. Both my girlfriend
and I were excited and nervous about our first film festival experience and eagerly
joined the long line outside the theatre. Night
Moves is a drama with a political edge. Directed by Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff) It stars Jesse Eisenberg,
Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard as environmentalists who plan to blow up a
dam in rural Oregon.
The film initially reminded me of The
East, thematically at least but it soon becomes apparent that this is a
significantly smarter film which takes a different direction. It doesn’t
bombard the audience with back story or justification for the crimes. It
assumes that the audience is clever enough to understand their motivation. The
central characters also remain half hidden and you’re never sure if they’re
showing their real selves to each other or the audience. The planning and
preparation are interesting and the execution of the dam’s destruction is
incredibly tense. What follows soon after is rather predictable but the
character’s transformations surprise.